“Where is This Street? or With No Before and After,” co-directed by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata, is screening in competition at Locarno.
The pic revisits locations and themes from Paulo Rocha’s 1963 film “Os Verdes Anos” (“The Green Years”), a best first film winner at Locarno in 1964 and considered to be a point of departure for Portugal’s Cinema Novo movement.
“We believe that the film works at its own level, and also gains further levels of meaning when viewed in conjunction with ‘Os Verdes Anos,’” explains Rodrigues. “By revisiting locations from the 1963 film, but without people, we planned to make an ode to Lisbon, a symphony of the city, working in the tradition of directors such as Walter Ruttman. This idea, that predated the pandemic, foresaw the atmosphere created by the lockdown which suddenly emptied the city.”
Rodrigues studied under Paulo Rocha at Lisbon...
The pic revisits locations and themes from Paulo Rocha’s 1963 film “Os Verdes Anos” (“The Green Years”), a best first film winner at Locarno in 1964 and considered to be a point of departure for Portugal’s Cinema Novo movement.
“We believe that the film works at its own level, and also gains further levels of meaning when viewed in conjunction with ‘Os Verdes Anos,’” explains Rodrigues. “By revisiting locations from the 1963 film, but without people, we planned to make an ode to Lisbon, a symphony of the city, working in the tradition of directors such as Walter Ruttman. This idea, that predated the pandemic, foresaw the atmosphere created by the lockdown which suddenly emptied the city.”
Rodrigues studied under Paulo Rocha at Lisbon...
- 8/5/2022
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
New to Streaming: ‘Dawson City: Frozen Time,’ ‘Marjorie Prime,’ ‘Lady Macbeth,’ ‘Landline,’ and More
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Abundant Acreage Available (Angus MacLachlan)
Faith-based cinema is as diverse a genre as there is, from the extreme, often violent portraits of devotion from established directors like Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson, to the attacks on logic in the God’s Not Dead and Left Behind pictures. Angus MacLachlan, a great storyteller of the not-too-deep south, offers a nuanced example of what this genre can bring, returning with the moving Abundant Acreage Available.
Abundant Acreage Available (Angus MacLachlan)
Faith-based cinema is as diverse a genre as there is, from the extreme, often violent portraits of devotion from established directors like Martin Scorsese and Mel Gibson, to the attacks on logic in the God’s Not Dead and Left Behind pictures. Angus MacLachlan, a great storyteller of the not-too-deep south, offers a nuanced example of what this genre can bring, returning with the moving Abundant Acreage Available.
- 10/6/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Yes, we know: It’s a little premature to assemble a list of the best movies of the year when there’s so much left of it. We have yet to see a lot of exciting new work from major auteurs like Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Alexander Payne (“Downsizing”), and Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), not to mention heavy-hitting studio-produced spectacles like “Blade Runner 2049” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” But those last two wouldn’t even qualify for this list of the best independent films of the year, anyway, and they’ll have plenty of time to hog the spotlight.
Fortunately, we’ve found plenty of movies from around the world to celebrate, and while they haven’t all been box office sensations, they provide overwhelming evidence that the art form is thriving well into the second decade of the new millennium, and shows no signs of slowing down.
Fortunately, we’ve found plenty of movies from around the world to celebrate, and while they haven’t all been box office sensations, they provide overwhelming evidence that the art form is thriving well into the second decade of the new millennium, and shows no signs of slowing down.
- 7/4/2017
- by Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Anne Thompson, Kate Erbland and Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Sometimes, finding a way into theaters can be a touch difficult. Especially for pieces of world cinema.
This has been the case for director Joao Pedro Rodrigues, and his latest film The Ornithologist. Despite garnering some buzz behind films like Human Capital, Rodrigues is ostensibly a new voice to many cinephiles. Yet, one would assume that if your picture gathered great notices out of festivals as prestigious as Toronto and as critically important as Rotterdam and Locarno, your film would be the talk of the town as soon as festival season was over?
Well, nearly a year after making its first premiere, The Ornithologist has finally fostered a theatrical release with the help of the fine folks at Strand Releasing, and it couldn’t have come at a better, albeit relatively late, moment on the calendar.
Just the pitch perfect type of quiet counter programming to battle the giant robots and caped crusaders taking control of screens across the country, Ornithologist tells the story of the titular bird watcher and a fateful journey into a Portuguese forest.
We meet Fernando (Paul Hamy), a lonesome bird expert as he floats down a river in the northern part of Portugal, hunting for endangered black storks. The premise doesn’t sound enticing, yet when Fernando comes in contact a pair of Chinese girls on their own journey to Santiago de Compostela, things take a decidedly bizarre turn. Saved by the duo after getting swept away by rapids, Fernando finds himself lost deep within the forest, unsure of how (or if he will ever) make it out. Along his journey he’ll meet a variety of men and women who may not seem at first glance like catalysts for great change within him, yet spark an evolution entirely unexpected.
A quiet and unassuming picture, Ornithologist is first and foremost an enticing piece of formalism. Told through softly spoken, static shots marked by the occasional burst of energy (be it a montage or a new discovery happened upon by our lead), the film is one of tones and moods. Much like, arguably, his best film, The Last Time I Saw Macao, Rodrigues crafts painterly, often quietly erotic images that are only elevated by some truly awe-inspiring photography. Sequences shift from warm, waterfront shots of a beautiful Fernando sunbathing in his underwear, to an icy sequence that finds that same topless Fernando tied of to a tree with castration being threatened. From the sun soaked sequences shore side to the deep blacks and blues we encounter as we ourselves get lost in the dense forest in front of us, the photography here is really superlative. The camera work is relatively straightforward, yet each frame is buzzing with an energy rooted squarely in Rodrigues’ use of this camera work.
Throughout his journey, Fernando comes across many a person who will ultimately lead him to the film’s sure-to-be polarizing (read: brilliant) final sequence. Ranging from a mute boy named Jesus to a pack of topless, gun-weilding women speaking Latin on horseback, narratively the film owes a great debt to classical odyssey tales. Drawing comparisons to filmmakers ranging from Bunuel to Weerasethakul, Rodrigues’ use of narrative is not so much baroque (there isn’t much specificity given to the world surrounding our lead) as it is absurdist, offering a great deal of thematic depth through moments that, taken in a vacuum, don’t seem to mean much. The film opens on a quote from St. Anthony, showing its themes from the opening frames. Deeply rooted in existential issues, the film is at once a film of queer self discovery, and also asks large existential questions which it never truly quite answers. The final frame of the picture hints and Rodrigues’ idea of how to combat deep existential angst, but there is an obtuseness, an otherworldliness to this film that makes it something entirely it’s own.
This has been the case for director Joao Pedro Rodrigues, and his latest film The Ornithologist. Despite garnering some buzz behind films like Human Capital, Rodrigues is ostensibly a new voice to many cinephiles. Yet, one would assume that if your picture gathered great notices out of festivals as prestigious as Toronto and as critically important as Rotterdam and Locarno, your film would be the talk of the town as soon as festival season was over?
Well, nearly a year after making its first premiere, The Ornithologist has finally fostered a theatrical release with the help of the fine folks at Strand Releasing, and it couldn’t have come at a better, albeit relatively late, moment on the calendar.
Just the pitch perfect type of quiet counter programming to battle the giant robots and caped crusaders taking control of screens across the country, Ornithologist tells the story of the titular bird watcher and a fateful journey into a Portuguese forest.
We meet Fernando (Paul Hamy), a lonesome bird expert as he floats down a river in the northern part of Portugal, hunting for endangered black storks. The premise doesn’t sound enticing, yet when Fernando comes in contact a pair of Chinese girls on their own journey to Santiago de Compostela, things take a decidedly bizarre turn. Saved by the duo after getting swept away by rapids, Fernando finds himself lost deep within the forest, unsure of how (or if he will ever) make it out. Along his journey he’ll meet a variety of men and women who may not seem at first glance like catalysts for great change within him, yet spark an evolution entirely unexpected.
A quiet and unassuming picture, Ornithologist is first and foremost an enticing piece of formalism. Told through softly spoken, static shots marked by the occasional burst of energy (be it a montage or a new discovery happened upon by our lead), the film is one of tones and moods. Much like, arguably, his best film, The Last Time I Saw Macao, Rodrigues crafts painterly, often quietly erotic images that are only elevated by some truly awe-inspiring photography. Sequences shift from warm, waterfront shots of a beautiful Fernando sunbathing in his underwear, to an icy sequence that finds that same topless Fernando tied of to a tree with castration being threatened. From the sun soaked sequences shore side to the deep blacks and blues we encounter as we ourselves get lost in the dense forest in front of us, the photography here is really superlative. The camera work is relatively straightforward, yet each frame is buzzing with an energy rooted squarely in Rodrigues’ use of this camera work.
Throughout his journey, Fernando comes across many a person who will ultimately lead him to the film’s sure-to-be polarizing (read: brilliant) final sequence. Ranging from a mute boy named Jesus to a pack of topless, gun-weilding women speaking Latin on horseback, narratively the film owes a great debt to classical odyssey tales. Drawing comparisons to filmmakers ranging from Bunuel to Weerasethakul, Rodrigues’ use of narrative is not so much baroque (there isn’t much specificity given to the world surrounding our lead) as it is absurdist, offering a great deal of thematic depth through moments that, taken in a vacuum, don’t seem to mean much. The film opens on a quote from St. Anthony, showing its themes from the opening frames. Deeply rooted in existential issues, the film is at once a film of queer self discovery, and also asks large existential questions which it never truly quite answers. The final frame of the picture hints and Rodrigues’ idea of how to combat deep existential angst, but there is an obtuseness, an otherworldliness to this film that makes it something entirely it’s own.
- 6/22/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
It’s not hard to get a sense for the big movies at this year’s edition of the New York Film Festival. Ava Duvernay’s Netflix documentary “13th” will open the festival with much fanfare over its powerful message about America’s broken justice system. Ang Lee’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” has many anticipating its inventive storytelling technology, and “20th Century Women” is said to be a terrific showcase for Annette Bening. Add in a number of festival favorites, from “Moonlight” to “Manchester By the Sea,” and the current edition of Nyff looks like a terrific consolidation of 2016 cinematic highlights.
But these headline-grabbing titles aren’t the whole story. A tightly-curated program assembled by a handful of discerning cinephiles, the festival offers a number of lower-profile titles that are just as worthy of your attention. Here’s a look at 10 of them.
“Aquarius”
Like so many...
But these headline-grabbing titles aren’t the whole story. A tightly-curated program assembled by a handful of discerning cinephiles, the festival offers a number of lower-profile titles that are just as worthy of your attention. Here’s a look at 10 of them.
“Aquarius”
Like so many...
- 9/28/2016
- by Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Winner of the Best Director award at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, João Pedro Rodrigues‘ The Ornithologist follows a man’s journey through Portugal in search of rare birds as his experience gets more mysterious. Speaking about shooting on location, he told us, “It was a pleasure, because those places are so beautiful and so hidden. They are so unexplored; sometimes I felt I was somewhere where very few people had been in a long time. It’s like going back in time, because those places have been like that for a long time; they’ve changed very little. You’re in a place where time has different rules, as if you could be in the past but it’s now.”
One of our favorites of the festival, we said in our review, “Publicly stated by its director to concern Saint Anthony, the Portuguese priest and friar who legend...
One of our favorites of the festival, we said in our review, “Publicly stated by its director to concern Saint Anthony, the Portuguese priest and friar who legend...
- 9/27/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
This was a busy year at Tiff, where I was a juror for Fipresci, helping to award a prize for best premiere in the Discovery section. Not only did this mean that some other films had to take a back burner—sadly, I did not see Eduardo Williams’ The Human Surge—but my writing time was a bit compromised as well. Better late than never? That is for you, Gentle Reader, to decide.Austerlitz (Sergei Loznitsa, Germany)So basic in the telling—a record of several days’ worth of visitors mostly to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienberg, Germany—Austerlitz is a film that in many ways exemplifies the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin. What is the net effect for humanity when, faced with the drive to remember the unfathomable, we employ the grossly inadequate tools at our disposal?Austerlitz takes its name from W. G. Sebald’s final novel.
- 9/20/2016
- MUBI
This year’s Toronto International Film Festival was another dense program filled with lots of new films in need of distribution. Fortunately, many of the highlights — from awards season heavyweights like “Jackie,” which went to Fox Searchlight, to smaller-scale crowdpleasers like “Tramps,” a Netflix acquisition — are guaranteed to find audiences beyond the Tiff arena. And most buyers agreed that this was, generally speaking, a pretty healthy year. Nevertheless, as the festival came to a conclusion, several great movies in the lineup remained homeless. Here are some of the ones that IndieWire wants to bring to the attention of all the buyers out there. We hope they’re paying attention.
See MoreThe 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Boundaries”
With her underrated debut film “Sarah Prefers to Run,” Chloé Robichaud made one of the best coming-of-age stories in recent years. For her follow-up, the Québécois writer-director widened her focus,...
See MoreThe 2016 IndieWire Tiff Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival
“Boundaries”
With her underrated debut film “Sarah Prefers to Run,” Chloé Robichaud made one of the best coming-of-age stories in recent years. For her follow-up, the Québécois writer-director widened her focus,...
- 9/19/2016
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
While the Toronto International Film Festival generates a sea of press coverage and industry activity in the fall, the Locarno Film Festival receives far less attention from the general public. However, the late summer European gathering — which concluded its 69th edition on Sunday — is a major attraction to cinephiles around the world, and the program contains a variety of world premieres that could wind up finding more audiences beyond the festival circuit — if, that is, buyers take note. Here’s a plea for a few of this year’s highlights to find some homes.
“Hermia & Helena”
Argentine director Matias Piñero’s first English-language feature, in which a young woman comes to New York to work on a translation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is another clever look at the way contemporary characters relate to classic literature to understand their lives. With bit parts for American indie faces Keith Poulson,...
“Hermia & Helena”
Argentine director Matias Piñero’s first English-language feature, in which a young woman comes to New York to work on a translation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” is another clever look at the way contemporary characters relate to classic literature to understand their lives. With bit parts for American indie faces Keith Poulson,...
- 8/15/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Bulgarian drama won the Golden Leopard as well as Best Actress for star Irena Ivanova.
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
Bulgarian director Ralitza Petrova’s debut feature Godless has won the top prize, the Golden Leopard, at the 69th Locarno Film Festival.
The drama also took the Best Actress award for Irena Ivanova’s performance as a nurse looking after elderly patients with dementia in a remote Bulgarian town.
In addition, the production by Klas Film’s Rossitsa Valkanova with Denmark’s Snowglobe and France’s Alcatraz Films and Film Factory, received the Ecumenical Jury’s Prize, which comes with a cash award of $20,500 (CHF20,000).
The screenplay for Godless - which is being handled internationally by Greek-based Heretic Outreach - had been supported by Torino FilmLab’s FrameWork, Sarajevo’s CineLink and the Women in Film Finishing Fund in Los Angeles.
“This prize was unusual among juries because it was a unanimous decision between all the members of our team,” the International...
- 8/13/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
NEWSBarry Jenkins' MoonlightThe New York Film Festival has announced its main slate, which among many of the year's better known titles includes new films by Barry Jenkins, Hong Sang-soo and Alison Maclean. The closing night film will be James Gray's The Lost City of Z.Recommended VIEWINGThe teaser for Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. We are notable fans of this too often derided filmmaker.Another future-set teaser: Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi flick Arrival, which is to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.A third teaser, this one for Woody Allen's series for Amazon, Crisis in Six Scenes.Aussie director John Hillcoat made one of the more under-appreciated big budget films this year, Triple 9, and now he returns to the director's seat for a video for Massive Attack, featuring Hope Sandoval and Cate Blanchett.Recommended READINGThe ShallowsIn a moment when any...
- 8/10/2016
- MUBI
The first reviews are in, and we begin with Jorge Mourinha, introducing his interview for Filmmaker: "The last few years have been truly a whirlwind period for Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues, with career retrospectives in the Us and Japan, filmmaker residencies at France’s prestigious Le Fresnoy and at the Harvard Film Archive, and even a competition slot at Locarno for his 2012 fake-noir playful docu-fiction hybrid The Last Time I Saw Macao, co-directed with his long-time creative and life partner João Rui Guerra da Mata." In The Ornithologist, competing in Locarno, the titular character's "scientific expedition in search of an endangered species becomes (in line with pretty much all of the director’s work) a fantastic journey of self-discovery and awakening, shot mostly on location with French actor Paul Hamy." » - David Hudson...
- 8/8/2016
- Keyframe
The first reviews are in, and we begin with Jorge Mourinha, introducing his interview for Filmmaker: "The last few years have been truly a whirlwind period for Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues, with career retrospectives in the Us and Japan, filmmaker residencies at France’s prestigious Le Fresnoy and at the Harvard Film Archive, and even a competition slot at Locarno for his 2012 fake-noir playful docu-fiction hybrid The Last Time I Saw Macao, co-directed with his long-time creative and life partner João Rui Guerra da Mata." In The Ornithologist, competing in Locarno, the titular character's "scientific expedition in search of an endangered species becomes (in line with pretty much all of the director’s work) a fantastic journey of self-discovery and awakening, shot mostly on location with French actor Paul Hamy." » - David Hudson...
- 8/8/2016
- Fandor: Keyframe
Publicly stated by its director to concern Saint Anthony, the Portuguese priest and friar who legend calls the most supernatural of saints, The Ornithologist luckily manages to see the profane outweigh the sacred — no white elephantine “spirituality,” but rather a progression of set-pieces. We have something of a return for João Pedro Rodrigues to his debut feature Fantasma, a nocturnal “erotic thriller” of sorts that moved by the logic of its own images, this in opposition to more character-driven films such as Two Drifters and To Die Like a Man or his most recent The Last Time I Saw Macao, a tad too much an academic exercise in mirroring post-colonialism through a deadpan “non-mystery.”
Our supposed Saint Anthony stand-in (and certainly object of lust for Rodrigues), Fernando (the Jason Statham-like Paul Hamy), is an ornithologist at work in Portugal’s wilderness, researching storks. The extended shots of him rowing...
Our supposed Saint Anthony stand-in (and certainly object of lust for Rodrigues), Fernando (the Jason Statham-like Paul Hamy), is an ornithologist at work in Portugal’s wilderness, researching storks. The extended shots of him rowing...
- 8/8/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Mind-blowing in the best possible way, “The Ornithologist” may not work for everyone, but those willing to embrace its puzzling ingredients will find a rewarding solution: further confirmation of a genuine film artist. The fifth narrative feature of Portugal’s João Pedro Rodrigues continues the soul-searching outlook and inventive storytelling of “The Last Time I Saw Macao” and “To Die Like a Man,” but reaches for even more ambitious territory with equally confounding and enlightening results. This isn’t a crossover moment for Rodrigues, a favorite in certain diehard cinephile sects, but nevertheless marks a major step forward.
The movie depicts the Homeric voyage of a modern-day ornithologist named Fernando (Paul Hamy) who inexplicably transforms into a revered Catholic saint. (More on that later.) As his journey begins, Fernando ventures down a tranquil river in his kayak, observing rare birds through his binoculars and enjoying the desolation. But the simplicity of his mission is short-lived.
The movie depicts the Homeric voyage of a modern-day ornithologist named Fernando (Paul Hamy) who inexplicably transforms into a revered Catholic saint. (More on that later.) As his journey begins, Fernando ventures down a tranquil river in his kayak, observing rare birds through his binoculars and enjoying the desolation. But the simplicity of his mission is short-lived.
- 8/8/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
While American audiences are stuck with the last tidbits of summer movie season, audiences at the Locarno International Film Festival have a very different set of options. The Swiss gathering, which begins its 68th edition this week, offers one of the broadest showcases of international cinema on the planet. Its massive outdoor venue, the Piazza Grande, hosts a range of crowdpleasers (including, this year, the European premiere of “Jason Bourne”) while other sections feature the latest efforts from veteran directors and rising stars of the festival circuit. While much the press, industry and general audience in Locarno hails from Europe, many of the program’s highlights travel later in the year to bigger festivals in Toronto and New York.
Read More: 2016 Locarno Film Festival Announces Full Lineup
Here’s a look at some of the more promising selections, bearing in mind that other discoveries await in the days to come.
Read More: 2016 Locarno Film Festival Announces Full Lineup
Here’s a look at some of the more promising selections, bearing in mind that other discoveries await in the days to come.
- 8/2/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The twelfth entry in an on-going series of audiovisual essays by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin. Mubi will be showing João Pedro Rodrigues's To Die Like a Man (2009) March 4 - April 2 and Two Drifters (2005) March 5 - April 3, 2016 in the United States.The concept that unifies the work of Portuguese filmmaker João Pedro Rodrigues (signed alone or in collaboration with João Rui Guerra da Mata) is that of shifting: a shifting of gender (in any direction from male to female, via all hybrid possibilities in-between), and of genre (romantic melodrama crossed with the fantastique, or documentary sliding over into fiction as in The Last Time I Saw Macao, 2012), even of species (confusion of human and animal realms in O Fantasma, 2000). Most gripping and beguiling of all is the director’s fondness for unexpectedly supernatural themes—all the better to blur the distinction between mortality and immortality, a key theme...
- 3/4/2016
- by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
- MUBI
Read More: Ira Sachs Returns in First Look Photos for Sundance Premiere 'Little Men' Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues has become a household name on the international festival circuit thanks to acclaimed features like "To Die Like a Man" and "The Last Time I Saw Macao," and he's currently finishing up the editing process on his most exciting venture yet. Entitled "The Ornithologist," Rodrigues' latest feature reinterprets a famous Portuguese myth that explores the life of religious figure Saint Antony. The script centers on a 40-year-old ornithologist named Fernando. He decides to go down a river in a kayak, hoping to find rare black storks, but is distracted by the beauty of the landscape. Fernando eventually gets overthrown by the streams and begins a trip in a river of no return. According to the religious legend, Saint Antony’s boat got to the coast of Italy, where he was rescued by Franciscan priests.
- 1/19/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The Ornithologist
Director: Joao Pedro Rodrigues
Writers: Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Joao Rui Guerra
Portuguese director Joao Pedro Rodrigues has built a fantastic filmography of offbeat, experimental films, including notable works like 2000’s O Fantasma! and 2005’s Two Drifters. He has a long history of collaborating with art director Joao Rui Guerra, which culminated in the superb docu-hybrid film noir essay The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012). The pair have been working on another feature, which supposedly began principal photography over the summer. Little has been revealed about the film beyond a style aiming to be a mix between Macao and Rodrigues’ excellent 2009 film To Die Like a Man (a film worth seeking out if you happened to miss it). It’s interesting to note Rodrigues trained as an ornithologist earlier in life, so we expect something meditative and introspective.
Cast: Tba.
Production Co.: Black Maria
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.
Director: Joao Pedro Rodrigues
Writers: Joao Pedro Rodrigues, Joao Rui Guerra
Portuguese director Joao Pedro Rodrigues has built a fantastic filmography of offbeat, experimental films, including notable works like 2000’s O Fantasma! and 2005’s Two Drifters. He has a long history of collaborating with art director Joao Rui Guerra, which culminated in the superb docu-hybrid film noir essay The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012). The pair have been working on another feature, which supposedly began principal photography over the summer. Little has been revealed about the film beyond a style aiming to be a mix between Macao and Rodrigues’ excellent 2009 film To Die Like a Man (a film worth seeking out if you happened to miss it). It’s interesting to note Rodrigues trained as an ornithologist earlier in life, so we expect something meditative and introspective.
Cast: Tba.
Production Co.: Black Maria
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available.
- 1/10/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
"Art of the Real" is returning to the Film Society of Lincoln Center with a celebration of Agnès Varda (who will attend!) and more:
"The 2015 edition, taking place April 10-26, will again feature dozens of new works from around the world and in a variety of genres alongside retrospective and thematic selections. Opening Night will premiere new works by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (The Last Time I Saw Macao, Mahjong), Eduardo Williams, and Matt Porterfield (I Used to Be Darker), with all filmmakers attending the evening."
Above: For The Criterion Collection, kogonada's new video essay, "Mirrors of Bergman." Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Timbuktu, will be heading Cannes' Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury. In his NY Times home video column, J. Hoberman writes on Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. Richard Brody writes about Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of...
"The 2015 edition, taking place April 10-26, will again feature dozens of new works from around the world and in a variety of genres alongside retrospective and thematic selections. Opening Night will premiere new works by João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata (The Last Time I Saw Macao, Mahjong), Eduardo Williams, and Matt Porterfield (I Used to Be Darker), with all filmmakers attending the evening."
Above: For The Criterion Collection, kogonada's new video essay, "Mirrors of Bergman." Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of Timbuktu, will be heading Cannes' Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury. In his NY Times home video column, J. Hoberman writes on Richard Linklater's Boyhood and Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg. Richard Brody writes about Spike Lee's Da Sweet Blood of...
- 2/18/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Dear Danny,
I'm glad you speak of the small things that stand out, separate from the overall quality of a film. In a festival drowning with content, sometimes it's hard to remember the particular details that struck us, especially in the late-going where we find ourselves now. In Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, a film otherwise lacking the filmmaker's eccentric touches, a short sequence involving a vulture is the best in the entire picture. Known for his penchant for filming animals, and moreover, filming them with a strange, alien gaze, Herzog brilliantly stages a romantic scene between Nicole Kidman and James Franco. The couple are climbing a winding stairway to the top of a tower (which Franco's character describes as being a place where the dead are brought), and waiting for these whimsical lovers is an intimidating vulture chewing on hot, rotting flesh. The abrupt cut from their...
I'm glad you speak of the small things that stand out, separate from the overall quality of a film. In a festival drowning with content, sometimes it's hard to remember the particular details that struck us, especially in the late-going where we find ourselves now. In Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, a film otherwise lacking the filmmaker's eccentric touches, a short sequence involving a vulture is the best in the entire picture. Known for his penchant for filming animals, and moreover, filming them with a strange, alien gaze, Herzog brilliantly stages a romantic scene between Nicole Kidman and James Franco. The couple are climbing a winding stairway to the top of a tower (which Franco's character describes as being a place where the dead are brought), and waiting for these whimsical lovers is an intimidating vulture chewing on hot, rotting flesh. The abrupt cut from their...
- 2/14/2015
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
In today's roundup of news and views: Reverse Shot's Martin Scorsese symposium rolls on. Twin Peaks will be a book before it returns. Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted excerpts from his conversations with Jean-Luc Godard. J. Hoberman reviews two films by Fritz Lang. The Nation reviews poetry by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Criterion's Peter Becker interviews Volker Schlöndorff. João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's A Última Vez Que Vi Macau sweeps awards in Portugal. A Marguerite Duras series opens in New York. Plus, remembering Pavel Landovsky, Marie Dubois and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/17/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of news and views: Reverse Shot's Martin Scorsese symposium rolls on. Twin Peaks will be a book before it returns. Jonathan Rosenbaum's posted excerpts from his conversations with Jean-Luc Godard. J. Hoberman reviews two films by Fritz Lang. The Nation reviews poetry by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Criterion's Peter Becker interviews Volker Schlöndorff. João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's A Última Vez Que Vi Macau sweeps awards in Portugal. A Marguerite Duras series opens in New York. Plus, remembering Pavel Landovsky, Marie Dubois and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/17/2014
- Keyframe
Co-directors João Pedro Rodrigues & João Rui Guerra da Mata are first and foremost cinephiles, and make no bones about invoking the classic Josef von Sternberg and Nicholas Ray directed, Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell starred Rko feature, Macao, throughout their own shapeshifting exploration of the post-Portuguese protean city. But The Last Time I Saw Macao is much more than just an homage to beloved cinema greats. Like it’s cinematic ancestor, the film delves into the darkness of film noir, but it also passes like a shadow from underground thriller to personal documentary, city symphony to action shoot-out at any given moment, all while acting as a cinematic travelogue for Guerra da Mata, who grew up in Macao, but hasn’t been back in thirty years.
In the last three decades the city has changed quite a bit, and in the film’s parallel universe, it’s fallen into shadow...
In the last three decades the city has changed quite a bit, and in the film’s parallel universe, it’s fallen into shadow...
- 4/15/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Amir here, bringing you this weekend’s box office report, which looks curiously like last weekend’s box office report. Of course no one is surprised that Out of the Furnace didn’t have the power to blast off Catching Fire and Frozen. The reviews aren’t over the moon; its stars aren’t quite stars, but famous actors; and this time of year, if you’re not a franchise entry or an animated film, you better be an Oscar player with huge buzz to sell tickets. Furnace is none of those things, and this weekend isn’t particularly notable for big numbers anyway. The last time any film opened in the first week of December to what can be considered reasonably successful sales is The Golden Compass all the way back in 2007. The only other noteworthy release is Inside Llewyn Davis, which opened on 4 screens to a strong per screen average.
- 12/9/2013
- by Amir S.
- FilmExperience
Watch the new trailer for João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's The Last Time I Saw Macao. Cinema Guild distributes the film, which opens September 13th. The Last Time I Saw Macao is a wonderfully mysterious, shape-shifting feature and a detective tale that blends film noir, documentary footage and personal travelogue to intoxicating effect. Lydie Barbara, João Rui Guerra da Mata, João Pedro Rodrigues and Cindy Scrash star.
- 8/24/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The Last Time I Saw Macao is a quasi neo-noir cum documentary that centers on Portugal's historical occupation in a city with the highest density on Earth. It has been likened to Marker's Sans Soleil and, on its own merits, has moments of pure splendor stemming from montages of the city itself.The rest of the time the film tries to tell a forcefully engaging noir tale that never works to any effect and does nothing to enhance the investigative and contemplative aspects of the visual essay. It is a goofy and clumsy gimmick of murder and supernatural intrigue where nothing is shown and the occasional hammy acting of a forced scream is heard after the sound of a muffled gun shot. During these sounds, the...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 8/1/2013
- Screen Anarchy
★★★☆☆ The critical success last year of Miguel Gomes' Tabu (2012) and fresh appreciation for the works of Pedro Costa and Raoul Ruiz has seen Portuguese cinema quietly re-introducing itself on the festival circuit. Continuing this trend, João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's The Last Time I Saw Macao (2012) opens with a magnificent dance routine set in front of caged tigers, before venturing down a rather more ambiguous course. The last Chinese outpost to be handed back to its owners, Macao was previously a Portuguese administrative region. Once a gateway to the East, it's now a monument to the West.
Our window into this world is Guerra da Mata, a former resident who's returning to his homeland in response to a letter of distress he receives from an old friend, Candy - who may have been involved in a murder. Drenched in memories and past regrets, his...
Our window into this world is Guerra da Mata, a former resident who's returning to his homeland in response to a letter of distress he receives from an old friend, Candy - who may have been involved in a murder. Drenched in memories and past regrets, his...
- 7/4/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Breathe In
After an excellent start to the tenure of new artistic director Chris Fujiwara in 2012, the Edinburgh International Film Festival returns this June with a similarly promising, extremely eclectic line-up. Last summer I provided Sound on Sight’s first ever coverage of the event, the world’s longest continuously running film festival, and shall be continuing to do so in a few weeks time; the festival runs from June 19th to 30th.
Things kick off with the European premiere of Breathe In, following its debut at Sundance earlier this year. Drake Doremus’ follow-up to Like Crazy stars Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan and Kyle MacLachlan, and concerns the change in a family’s relationship dynamics when a foreign exchange student comes to stay. The closing gala film is romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending, which receives its world premiere at the festival. The Glasgow-set film stars Doctor Who...
After an excellent start to the tenure of new artistic director Chris Fujiwara in 2012, the Edinburgh International Film Festival returns this June with a similarly promising, extremely eclectic line-up. Last summer I provided Sound on Sight’s first ever coverage of the event, the world’s longest continuously running film festival, and shall be continuing to do so in a few weeks time; the festival runs from June 19th to 30th.
Things kick off with the European premiere of Breathe In, following its debut at Sundance earlier this year. Drake Doremus’ follow-up to Like Crazy stars Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan and Kyle MacLachlan, and concerns the change in a family’s relationship dynamics when a foreign exchange student comes to stay. The closing gala film is romantic comedy Not Another Happy Ending, which receives its world premiere at the festival. The Glasgow-set film stars Doctor Who...
- 5/30/2013
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- SoundOnSight
João Pedro Rodrigues and João Rui Guerra da Mata's The Last Time I Saw Macao has a new, theatrical poster. The Cinema Guild distributed musical drama, which at this time has no set U.S. release date apart from opening in the summer, made its world premiere at the 2012 Locarno Film Festival and was an official selection of the Toronto and New York Film Festivals. Starring in the film also known as A Última Vez Que Vi Macau are Lydie Barbara, João Rui Guerra da Mata, João Pedro Rodrigues and Cindy Scrash. The Last Time I Saw Macao is produced by Daniel Chabannes, Corentin Senechal and Rodrigues. I really love the design of this poster which harks back to the days of many beloved classics.
- 4/26/2013
- Upcoming-Movies.com
News.
Just in time for Kenya's national election this weekend, Mubi will be specially showing a new film, Something Necessary (Judy Kibinge, 2013), produced by Tom Tykwer, about the country's last elections, in 2007. Something Necessary premiered in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and will be free to watch globally on Mubi for 24 hours starting Sunday, March 3. Russian filmmaker Aleksei German has passed away at the age of 74. We've shared one of our favorite scenes of his and would like to point to a piece we published by Maxim Pozdorovkin last March, occasioned by the traveling retrospective of German's work.
We are terrifically happy for and proud of David Cairns—Notebook columnist of The Forgotten and author of the Shadowplay blog—who has just seen the premiere of his new film co-directed with Paul Duane, Natan, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The documentary is on Bernand Natan, a...
Just in time for Kenya's national election this weekend, Mubi will be specially showing a new film, Something Necessary (Judy Kibinge, 2013), produced by Tom Tykwer, about the country's last elections, in 2007. Something Necessary premiered in January at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and will be free to watch globally on Mubi for 24 hours starting Sunday, March 3. Russian filmmaker Aleksei German has passed away at the age of 74. We've shared one of our favorite scenes of his and would like to point to a piece we published by Maxim Pozdorovkin last March, occasioned by the traveling retrospective of German's work.
We are terrifically happy for and proud of David Cairns—Notebook columnist of The Forgotten and author of the Shadowplay blog—who has just seen the premiere of his new film co-directed with Paul Duane, Natan, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. The documentary is on Bernand Natan, a...
- 2/28/2013
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
After stops in Locarno, Tiff and Nyff, The Cinema Guild have The Last Time I Saw Macao , João Pedro Rodrigues was born in Lisbon. His feature films are and “The Last Time I Saw Macao” (2012). João Rui Guerra da Mata has co-written with João Pedro Rodrigues the feature film “To Die Like a Man” (2009). “The Last Time I Saw Macao” (2012) is his first feature film as director.
Gist:
Worth Noting: Rodrigues’ previous films are available for viewing: “O Fantasma” (2000), Two Drifters aka “Odette” (2005), “To Die Like a Man” (2009)
Do We Care?: Although our Blake Williams does have some reservations about the film (Tiff ’12 Daily recap), he thinks that “the disappearance of history and culture (Macao was a Portuguese colony for 4 centuries, ending in 1999, so the filmmakers are playing with their own genuine and personal nostalgia from its past), these little bursts of light infused a visual poeticism that made the overall viewing rewarding.
Gist:
Worth Noting: Rodrigues’ previous films are available for viewing: “O Fantasma” (2000), Two Drifters aka “Odette” (2005), “To Die Like a Man” (2009)
Do We Care?: Although our Blake Williams does have some reservations about the film (Tiff ’12 Daily recap), he thinks that “the disappearance of history and culture (Macao was a Portuguese colony for 4 centuries, ending in 1999, so the filmmakers are playing with their own genuine and personal nostalgia from its past), these little bursts of light infused a visual poeticism that made the overall viewing rewarding.
- 12/5/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The Cinema Guild has acquired U.S. distribution rights to "The Last Time I Saw Macao," directed by João Pedro Rodrigues ("To Die Like a Man") and João Rui Guerra da Mata. Ryan Krivoshey of The Cinema Guild negotiated the deal with Jean-Christophe Simon of Films Boutique. The film, an official selection of the 50th New York Film Festival, will receive a theatrical release in 2013, followed by a DVD/VOD rollout. "'The Last Time I Saw Macao' is an evocative, entertaining and genre-bending work from two dynamic filmmakers," Krivoshey said of the Portuguese film, which explores the psychic pull of the titular former Portuguese colony. João Pedro Rodrigues ("O Fantasma," "Odette") was born in Lisbon; "Macao" is João Rui Guerra da Mata's directorial debut. The Cinema Guild's upcoming releases include Raul Ruiz's...
- 12/4/2012
- by Justin Krajeski
- Indiewire
What follows is an exchange between Josh Timmermann (a fellow critic and Vancouver resident, who you may recall from this) and I, wherein we discuss the Vancouver International Film Festival and its individual parts, a chance to color outside the lines a bit and discuss the ins and outs of our festival experiences.
Context!
Above: Granville 7 Theatre, Viff's primary venue.
Adam Cook: I’ve been attending Viff since 2008—and you’ve been attending since 2007—so it seems kind of safe to say we’re well on our way to being veterans of the festival; although, this claim is humbled when encountering someone like Chuck Stephens—a member of this year’s Dragons & Tigers jury—who has been coming (from out of town, no less) for something like twenty years. However, five years of Viff-going has equipped me with a knack for knowing how to approach the festival, how to navigate the programming—and,...
Context!
Above: Granville 7 Theatre, Viff's primary venue.
Adam Cook: I’ve been attending Viff since 2008—and you’ve been attending since 2007—so it seems kind of safe to say we’re well on our way to being veterans of the festival; although, this claim is humbled when encountering someone like Chuck Stephens—a member of this year’s Dragons & Tigers jury—who has been coming (from out of town, no less) for something like twenty years. However, five years of Viff-going has equipped me with a knack for knowing how to approach the festival, how to navigate the programming—and,...
- 11/8/2012
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
There is no such thing as “pure documentary.” While classified as “non-fiction,” documentaries ultimately form narratives depending on how the director chooses to cut the footage together. In The Last Time I Saw Macao, co-directors Joao Pedro Rodrigues and Joao Rui Guerra da Mata, conversely, draw attention to a fictional framework, a man searching for his troubled friend in Macao. However, this framework opens up to an honest documentary portrait of a city. Last Time I Saw Macao does indeed find a clever fashion in which to photograph its eponymous city, but sometimes lacks a certain ability to entertain. The film begins with a rather compelling opening sequence. Transgendered woman Candy (Cindy Scrash, star of Rodrigues’ To Die Like A Man) lip-synchs to Jane Russell’s “You Kill Me” from Josef Von Sternbergh’s film Macao (1952) in a direct homage to both the film and the city (many references are made to Von Sternbergh’s film throughout...
- 10/12/2012
- by Caitlin Hughes
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The New York Film Festival is celebrating its 50th birthday this year while at the same time saying goodbye to Richard Peña, who served as Program Director for the last 25 years. This year’s festival is packed with films from all over the world, bringing the best of the best from Cannes, Berlin, and other renowned festivals to a New York audience. Peña, who also teaches in the Film Department at Columbia University, has long championed Latin American cinema, in particular. After traveling in the region as a young undergrad he decided to focus his academic research on Latin America. Peña has gone on to not only spotlight Latino films in the classroom but also carved out a space, year after year, for Latino films to shine at the New York Film Festival. This year is no exception. Now in its second week, the fest has some exciting Latino premieres that will close out its 50th edition.
Here and There
Aquí y Allá | Antonio Méndez Esparza (2012)
Mexico/Spain/USA | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 110 minutes
Having won the top prize at the Critic’s Week sidebar at Cannes, this debut feature from Antonio Méndez Esparza looks at immigration from a different point of view--what happens when you go back? Pedro returns home to his family in Mexico after a stint working in New York. When he arrives he is surprised to see how different things look, how things have changed. He has little to say to his daughters and has to get to know his wife all over again. He feels detached, lonely, alienated. He feels distant from his family--and in parallel, the camera stays far away from the characters. In a series of long takes, conversations amongst family and friends are seen from a distance and the camera remains stationary. People walk in and out of scenes, have their backs turned to the camera, or are just too far away to see clearly. We rarely get a glimpse of those who talk and without close-ups of their faces--miss out on facial expressions and the nuances of the nonverbal. Just like Pedro--the audience, as a result of the camera work--has trouble emotionally connecting with the people on the screen.
No
Pablo Larraín (2012)
Chile/USA | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 110 minutes
Pablo Larraín and Gael García Bernal in person at both screenings and at the SoHo Apple Store on Thursday, October 11 as part of NyffLive.
“In 1988, in an effort to extend and legitimize its rule, the Chilean military junta announced it would hold a plebiscite to get the people’s permission to stay in power. Despite being given 15 minutes a day to plead its case on television, the anti-Pinochet opposition was divided and without a clear message. Enter Rene Saavedra, an ad man who, after a career pushing soft drinks and soap, sets out to sell Chileans on democracy and freedom.” Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Motorcycle Diaries) stars as Rene Saavedra. His performance is said to be the major reason behind the standing ovation it received at the Cannes Film Festival, its world premiere. It also was just announced as Chile’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
The Dead Man and Being Happy
El muerto y ser feliz | Javier Rebollo (2012)
Spain/Argentina/France | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 94 minutes
“For his third feature, the gifted Spanish director Javier Rebollo (Woman Without Piano) has decamped to Argentina and created a literate, screwball road movie that Borges surely would have loved. The “dead man” of the title is Santos (veteran Spanish screen star José Sacristán), a cancer-stricken hired killer who flees his Buenos Aires hospital bed and sets off on one last assignment. It is a journey that takes him through an interior Argentina rarely glimpsed in movies, from the Cordoba resort town of La Cumbrecita (with its disproportionate—and disconcerting—population of elderly Germans) to the northern province of Santiago del Estero. Along the way, Santos finds himself joined by Alejandra (the wonderful Roxana Blanco), an attractive middle-aged woman who impulsively jumps into his vintage Ford Falcon at a gas station and soon thwarts him from his intended path.”
Films from Portugal are often excluded from a discussion of Latin American or Latino films. But, in the same way that we include Brazilian films even though they are in Portuguese and Spanish films because of the country’s colonial ties to the Americas--i personally think that films from Portugal should also qualify as Latin American or Latino. Maybe, I’ll just start calling them Ibero-American films.
Tabu
Miguel Gomes (2012)
Portugal | Portuguese with English Subtitles | Format: 35mm | 118 minutes
“Shot in ephemeral black-and-white celluloid, Tabu is movie-as-dream—an evocation of irrational desires, extravagant coincidences, and cheesy nostalgia that nevertheless is grounded in serious feeling and beliefs, even anti-colonialist politics. There is a story, which is delightful to follow and in which the cart comes before the horse: the first half is set in contemporary Lisbon, the second, involving two of the same characters, in a Portuguese colony in the early 1960s. “Be My Baby” belted in Portuguese, a wandering crocodile, and a passionate, ill-advised coupling seen through gently moving mosquito netting make for addled movie magic.”
The Last Time I Saw Macao
A Última Vez Que Vi Macau | João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012)
Portugal/France | Portuguese with English Subtitles | 85 minutes
“This stunning amalgam of playful film noir and Chris Marker–like cine-essay from João Pedro Rodrigues (To Die Like a Man, Nyff 2009) and João Rui Guerra da Mata explores the psychic pull of the titular former Portuguese colony. After a spectacular opening scene, in which actress Cindy Scrash lip-synchs, as tigers pace behind her, to Jane Russell’s “You Kill Me”—from Josef von Sternberg’s Macao (1952), a key reference here—the film shifts to da Mata’s off-screen recollections of growing up in this gambling haven in the South China Sea.”
The New York Film Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, runs through October 14.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.
Here and There
Aquí y Allá | Antonio Méndez Esparza (2012)
Mexico/Spain/USA | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 110 minutes
Having won the top prize at the Critic’s Week sidebar at Cannes, this debut feature from Antonio Méndez Esparza looks at immigration from a different point of view--what happens when you go back? Pedro returns home to his family in Mexico after a stint working in New York. When he arrives he is surprised to see how different things look, how things have changed. He has little to say to his daughters and has to get to know his wife all over again. He feels detached, lonely, alienated. He feels distant from his family--and in parallel, the camera stays far away from the characters. In a series of long takes, conversations amongst family and friends are seen from a distance and the camera remains stationary. People walk in and out of scenes, have their backs turned to the camera, or are just too far away to see clearly. We rarely get a glimpse of those who talk and without close-ups of their faces--miss out on facial expressions and the nuances of the nonverbal. Just like Pedro--the audience, as a result of the camera work--has trouble emotionally connecting with the people on the screen.
No
Pablo Larraín (2012)
Chile/USA | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 110 minutes
Pablo Larraín and Gael García Bernal in person at both screenings and at the SoHo Apple Store on Thursday, October 11 as part of NyffLive.
“In 1988, in an effort to extend and legitimize its rule, the Chilean military junta announced it would hold a plebiscite to get the people’s permission to stay in power. Despite being given 15 minutes a day to plead its case on television, the anti-Pinochet opposition was divided and without a clear message. Enter Rene Saavedra, an ad man who, after a career pushing soft drinks and soap, sets out to sell Chileans on democracy and freedom.” Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Motorcycle Diaries) stars as Rene Saavedra. His performance is said to be the major reason behind the standing ovation it received at the Cannes Film Festival, its world premiere. It also was just announced as Chile’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award.
The Dead Man and Being Happy
El muerto y ser feliz | Javier Rebollo (2012)
Spain/Argentina/France | Spanish with English subtitles | Format: Dcp | 94 minutes
“For his third feature, the gifted Spanish director Javier Rebollo (Woman Without Piano) has decamped to Argentina and created a literate, screwball road movie that Borges surely would have loved. The “dead man” of the title is Santos (veteran Spanish screen star José Sacristán), a cancer-stricken hired killer who flees his Buenos Aires hospital bed and sets off on one last assignment. It is a journey that takes him through an interior Argentina rarely glimpsed in movies, from the Cordoba resort town of La Cumbrecita (with its disproportionate—and disconcerting—population of elderly Germans) to the northern province of Santiago del Estero. Along the way, Santos finds himself joined by Alejandra (the wonderful Roxana Blanco), an attractive middle-aged woman who impulsively jumps into his vintage Ford Falcon at a gas station and soon thwarts him from his intended path.”
Films from Portugal are often excluded from a discussion of Latin American or Latino films. But, in the same way that we include Brazilian films even though they are in Portuguese and Spanish films because of the country’s colonial ties to the Americas--i personally think that films from Portugal should also qualify as Latin American or Latino. Maybe, I’ll just start calling them Ibero-American films.
Tabu
Miguel Gomes (2012)
Portugal | Portuguese with English Subtitles | Format: 35mm | 118 minutes
“Shot in ephemeral black-and-white celluloid, Tabu is movie-as-dream—an evocation of irrational desires, extravagant coincidences, and cheesy nostalgia that nevertheless is grounded in serious feeling and beliefs, even anti-colonialist politics. There is a story, which is delightful to follow and in which the cart comes before the horse: the first half is set in contemporary Lisbon, the second, involving two of the same characters, in a Portuguese colony in the early 1960s. “Be My Baby” belted in Portuguese, a wandering crocodile, and a passionate, ill-advised coupling seen through gently moving mosquito netting make for addled movie magic.”
The Last Time I Saw Macao
A Última Vez Que Vi Macau | João Pedro Rodrigues, João Rui Guerra da Mata (2012)
Portugal/France | Portuguese with English Subtitles | 85 minutes
“This stunning amalgam of playful film noir and Chris Marker–like cine-essay from João Pedro Rodrigues (To Die Like a Man, Nyff 2009) and João Rui Guerra da Mata explores the psychic pull of the titular former Portuguese colony. After a spectacular opening scene, in which actress Cindy Scrash lip-synchs, as tigers pace behind her, to Jane Russell’s “You Kill Me”—from Josef von Sternberg’s Macao (1952), a key reference here—the film shifts to da Mata’s off-screen recollections of growing up in this gambling haven in the South China Sea.”
The New York Film Festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, runs through October 14.
Written by Juan Caceres and Vanessa Erazo, LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature onSydneysBuzzthat highlights emerging and established Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow@LatinoBuzzon twitter.
- 10/10/2012
- by Vanessa Erazo
- Sydney's Buzz
Above: Passion (Brian de Palma, France/Germany).
Tonight the 50th incarnation of the New York Film Festival gets underway at Lincoln Center, and for the third year running I have tried to find posters for all the films in the festival’s main slate (see 2010 and 2011). Poster art not being what it used to be, these inevitably pale in comparison to the posters I collected last week for the very first Nyff of 1963. For starters, most of those were illustrated, whereas only two of this year’s batch are hand drawn: the folk-art Filipino design for Bwakaw and Spanish artist Riki Blanco’s illustration for The Dead Man and Being Happy. But there are some other standouts, like the striking UK quads for Holy Motors and Ginger and Rosa, the near-abstract monochrome and gothic lettering of Leviathan, the unconventional titling for Barbara (coupled with that can’t-lose photo of Nina Hoss on a bike,...
Tonight the 50th incarnation of the New York Film Festival gets underway at Lincoln Center, and for the third year running I have tried to find posters for all the films in the festival’s main slate (see 2010 and 2011). Poster art not being what it used to be, these inevitably pale in comparison to the posters I collected last week for the very first Nyff of 1963. For starters, most of those were illustrated, whereas only two of this year’s batch are hand drawn: the folk-art Filipino design for Bwakaw and Spanish artist Riki Blanco’s illustration for The Dead Man and Being Happy. But there are some other standouts, like the striking UK quads for Holy Motors and Ginger and Rosa, the near-abstract monochrome and gothic lettering of Leviathan, the unconventional titling for Barbara (coupled with that can’t-lose photo of Nina Hoss on a bike,...
- 9/28/2012
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
Montreal’s Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (10.10 – 10.21) announced their line-up today for their 41st edition and among the smorgasbord of subtitle offerings dating back to this year’s Rotterdam, Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Venice and Tiff editions, we’re knee-deep in avant-garde world cinema from the established auteurs Assayas, Vinterberg, Ozon, Sang-Soo, Joao Pedro Rodriguez, Larrain, Loach, Reygadas, Ghobadi, Mungiu and Miguel Gomes. Heavy on offerings from Quebec and France, the fest also manages to offer a stellar snapshot of the up-and-comers from all corners of the globe. Among the notable titles in the (Competition category) International Selection we’ve got Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves, Ursula Meier’s Sister, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky’s Francine (which received its theatrical release earlier this month) and Rodrigo Plá’s La Demora. Loaded in Cannes items, the Special Presentations is the fest’s A-list selections (see filmmakers named above) and the one pic...
- 9/25/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
We are again partnering with Queer Lisboa—Festival de Cinema Gay e Lésbico de Lisboa—to bring you over twenty films from its 2012 program for free. The festival, now in its 16th year, is not only the oldest film festival in Lisbon, but it is also the sole Portuguese film festival dedicated exclusively to screening gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual themed films.
Films will be available from now until the end of the festival, October 5. One particular gem, is Happy Birthday!, an early short by João Pedro Rodrigues, the director of To Die Like a Man who has a new film in the festival circuit this year, The Last Time I Saw Macao, co-directed by João Rui Guerra da Mata. See the full lineup here.
Films will be available from now until the end of the festival, October 5. One particular gem, is Happy Birthday!, an early short by João Pedro Rodrigues, the director of To Die Like a Man who has a new film in the festival circuit this year, The Last Time I Saw Macao, co-directed by João Rui Guerra da Mata. See the full lineup here.
- 9/23/2012
- MUBI
As I mentioned in the preface to the first part of my Wavelengths preview (the one focusing on the short films), there are significant changes afoot in 2012. Until last year, the festival had a section known as Visions, which was the primary home for formally challenging cinema that nevertheless conformed to the basic tenets of arthouse and/or “festival” cinema (actors, scripting, 70+minute running time, and, once upon a time, 35mm presentation). This year, Wavelengths is both its former self, and it also contains the sort of work that Visions most likely would have housed. While in some respects this can seem to result in a kind of split personality for the section, it also means that Wavelengths, which has often been described as a sort of “festival within the festival,” has moved front and center. Films that would’ve occupied single slots in the older avant-Wavelengths model, like the...
- 9/12/2012
- MUBI
11:59 pm - The long day closes, and it was a 5-film crescendo in quality, from the borderline inane by a master this morning (Capital) to the rather strong debut ported from Cannes’ Critics’ Week (Augustine) that just let out half an hour ago. The latter was preceded by another strong (albeit heavily flawed) film, The Last Time I Saw Macao, which premiered last month at Locarno and is the first feature-length collaboration between Portguese festival ‘it’ boy (or man; he is in his mid-40s afterall) João Pedro Rodrigues and his partner João Rui Guerra da Mata. The film is a hybrid of several genres – essay film, city symphony, queer noir – and has varying degrees of success with the lot of them. The worst – and unfortunately most prominent – would be the noir – a diaristic search for a transvestite-in-trouble named Candy by her Portuguese friend (played and narrated by Guerra da Mata...
- 9/11/2012
- by IONCINEMA.com Contributing Writers
- IONCINEMA.com
This week's announcement that Olivier Père, former programmer of Cannes's Directors' Fortnight, will be stepping down from his post at the helm of the Festival del Film Locarno marks the end of brief but important era for this film festival, one of the longest-running in the world. In just three years, Père has helped to put the annual event back on the festival map, drawing an annual influx of celebrities and industry-types for red-carpet world premieres, jury prizes, and lifetime achievement awards. Perhaps more than ever in its sixty-six-year history, Locarno is an important station on the fall festival circuit, forecasting the slates of Toronto and New York and providing useful international gateway for cinema from all over the world.
This year's festival featured a characteristically dizzying mix of international festival ephemera, an Otto Preminger retrospective, and much-heralded appearances by the likes of Kylie Minogue, Alain Delon, and Harry Belafonte on the festival's main stage,...
This year's festival featured a characteristically dizzying mix of international festival ephemera, an Otto Preminger retrospective, and much-heralded appearances by the likes of Kylie Minogue, Alain Delon, and Harry Belafonte on the festival's main stage,...
- 8/29/2012
- MUBI
Above: Ernie Gehr's Auto-Collider Xv.
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
The vast bulk of Tiff's 2012 has been announced and listed here, below. We'll be updating the lineup with the previous films announced, as well as updating links to specific films for more information on them in the coming days. Of particular note is that the Wavelengths and Visions programs have been combined to create what is undoubtedly the most interesting section of the festival. Stay tuned, too, for our own on the ground coverage of Tiff.
Galas
A Royal Affair (Nikolai Arcel, Demark/Sweden/Czech Republic/Germany)
Argo (Ben Affleck, USA)
The Company You Keep (Robert Redford, USA)
Dangerous Liaisons (Hur Jin-ho, China)
Emperor (Peter Webber, Japan/USA)
English Vinglish (Gauri Shinde, India)
Free Angela & All Political Prisoners (Shola Lynch)
Great Expectations (Mike Newell, UK)
Hyde Park on Hudson (Roger Michell, UK)
Inescapable (Ruba Nadda, Canada)
Jayne Mansfield's Car (Billy Bob Thorton, USA/Russia)
Looper (Rian Johnson,...
- 8/22/2012
- MUBI
The New York Film Festival announced its full slate of films on Thursday, a line up of 32 titles that largely serves as a catch-all compendium of standouts from other international festivals like Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Toronto.
Along with the previously announced opening night film (Ang Lee’s Life of Pi), centerpiece gala (David Chase’s Not Fade Away), and closing night film (Robert Zemeckis’ Flight) — all world premieres — the highlights of the festival include: Hyde Park on Hudson, starring Bill Murray as President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Ginger and Rosa, starring Elle Fanning as a girl growing up in 1962 London...
Along with the previously announced opening night film (Ang Lee’s Life of Pi), centerpiece gala (David Chase’s Not Fade Away), and closing night film (Robert Zemeckis’ Flight) — all world premieres — the highlights of the festival include: Hyde Park on Hudson, starring Bill Murray as President Franklin D. Roosevelt; Ginger and Rosa, starring Elle Fanning as a girl growing up in 1962 London...
- 8/17/2012
- by Adam B. Vary
- EW - Inside Movies
Amour
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the main slate of selections for the 50th New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14) including such notable directors as Olivier Assayas, Noah Baumbach, Leos Carax, Brian De Palma, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz and Robert Zemeckis.
Regarding the line up of 32 films comprising the main slate for the 50th anniversary of Nyff Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, said, .The films making up the main slate of this year’s Nyff, have in common a general quality of fearlessness” that unites otherwise very disparate works. These are films that go all the way, works willing to take the risk or chance that by doing so they may be bringing audiences to places they might rather not go..
Award winners that will be presented for...
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the main slate of selections for the 50th New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14) including such notable directors as Olivier Assayas, Noah Baumbach, Leos Carax, Brian De Palma, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz and Robert Zemeckis.
Regarding the line up of 32 films comprising the main slate for the 50th anniversary of Nyff Richard Peña, Selection Committee Chair & Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, said, .The films making up the main slate of this year’s Nyff, have in common a general quality of fearlessness” that unites otherwise very disparate works. These are films that go all the way, works willing to take the risk or chance that by doing so they may be bringing audiences to places they might rather not go..
Award winners that will be presented for...
- 8/16/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 2012 New York Film Festival announced its main slate of movies Thursday. The 32 movies draw from a healthy mix of big named directors and indie favorites.
Films From Noah Baumbach ("Frances Ha"), Roger Michell ("Hyde Park on Hudson"), Michael Haneke ("Amour," which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year) and Abbas Kiarostami ("Like Someone in Love") were selected.
As previously announced, Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" will open the festival, David Chase's "Not Fade Away" is the Centerpiece Gala Selection and Robert Zemeckis' "Flight," starring Denzel Washington, will close the fortnight.
"Passion," Brian De Palma's widely anticipated film, will also screen at the Venice Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 8. A number of Nyff's selections actual make their bow at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins Sept. 6.
Nyff runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 14. The full main-slate list of films is available below, direct from...
Films From Noah Baumbach ("Frances Ha"), Roger Michell ("Hyde Park on Hudson"), Michael Haneke ("Amour," which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year) and Abbas Kiarostami ("Like Someone in Love") were selected.
As previously announced, Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" will open the festival, David Chase's "Not Fade Away" is the Centerpiece Gala Selection and Robert Zemeckis' "Flight," starring Denzel Washington, will close the fortnight.
"Passion," Brian De Palma's widely anticipated film, will also screen at the Venice Film Festival, which runs from Aug. 29 to Sept. 8. A number of Nyff's selections actual make their bow at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins Sept. 6.
Nyff runs Sept. 28 to Oct. 14. The full main-slate list of films is available below, direct from...
- 8/16/2012
- by Kia Makarechi
- Huffington Post
After Venice and Toronto unveiled their strong assembly of titles, the 50th annual New York Film Festival have released this year’s primary lineup. Short answer: We won’t be left out in the cold this fall.
Though not necessarily on the same massive scale as last year, the Film Society of Lincoln Center look to be offering some of world cinema’s finest options for 2012. The biggest title would, unquestionably, have to be Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or winner, Amour, while “the rest,” if you’re so callous as to call it that, include some of our favorite Cannes selections — including Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love, or Leos Carax‘s Holy Motors. Sure, maybe Beyond the Hills was a flat bore that didn’t live up to its director’s last effort, but at least I get to find out for myself.
Past those obvious picks,...
Though not necessarily on the same massive scale as last year, the Film Society of Lincoln Center look to be offering some of world cinema’s finest options for 2012. The biggest title would, unquestionably, have to be Michael Haneke‘s Palme d’Or winner, Amour, while “the rest,” if you’re so callous as to call it that, include some of our favorite Cannes selections — including Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love, or Leos Carax‘s Holy Motors. Sure, maybe Beyond the Hills was a flat bore that didn’t live up to its director’s last effort, but at least I get to find out for myself.
Past those obvious picks,...
- 8/16/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
By merging the former Visions into the Wavelengths section, Cameron Bailey has essentially made a new incontournable programme. Headed by Andréa Picard, the section which at a time was populated by medium to short run times now includes some of the bigger names in innovative feature film filmmaking who have no qualms about bending the medium. This year the sections includes long, medium and short length works from the likes of Ben Rivers, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Carlos Reygadas (pic of his controversial Post Tenebras Lux above), Wang Bing, Mati Diop (actress from Claire Denis and Antonio Campos films) and our very own writer Blake Williams who makes it two for two at Tiff with Many a Swan – he previously had Coorow-Latham Road programmed last year. Here’s the complete A to Z listing and well-worth reading descriptions.
Pairings
The Capsule Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece, 37’ A bevy of gorgeous Gothic...
Pairings
The Capsule Athina Rachel Tsangari, Greece, 37’ A bevy of gorgeous Gothic...
- 8/14/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
A provocative cinematic poem in the tradition of the late Chris Marker, "The Last Time I Saw Macao" valiantly attempts to dissect an entire metropolitan history. Perhaps because it aims so big, not every fragment connects, but Portuguese co-directors Joao Pedro Rodrigues and Joao Rui Guerra da Mata unload an intriguing collection of attitudes, themes and memories based around a largely effective combination of nostalgia and colonialist regret. While Rodrigues's previous film, "To Die Like a Man" (which was art directed by Da Mata) contained plenty of stylistic indulgences, it looks fairly conventional when compared with "The Last Time I Saw Macao," which followed the directors on a voyage to the former Portuguese colony, marking Rodrigues' first time visiting the city since his childhood 30 years earlier. The filmmakers couch their story in a playful nod to film noir, proclaiming that an old friend named Candy has contacted them...
- 8/11/2012
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.